The Los Angeles Thieves defeated the Atlanta FaZe in the upper-bracket final of the Call of Duty League Championship Weekend on Saturday, and they’ll have to do it again on Sunday if they want to win the tournament title.
The Thieves prevailed 3-1 to advance to the grand final. Then the FaZe, who were relegated to the lower-bracket final in the double-elimination format, earned their rematch by beating the Seattle Surge 3-1.
The Surge were playing their third match of the day, having eliminated the Toronto Ultra in the lower-bracket second round and then OpTic Texas in the next round, setting up their match with the FaZe.
OpTic began their day by defeating the New York Subliners.
Championship Weekend offers a prize pool of $2.55 million, with $1.2 million going to the winners. The tournament has a double-elimination format, and all matches are best-of-five until Sunday’s grand final, which will be best-of-nine.
The FaZe won their first map, Tuscan Hardpoint, 250-209, but the Thieves roared back with consecutive wins on Tuscan Search and Destroy (6-4), Berlin Control (3-0) and Berlin Hardpoint (250-71). Kenny “Kenny” Williams of the U.S. led the Thieves with 81 kills and a plus-1.31 kills/deaths ratio.
The FaZe then pulled the same type of comeback against the Surge, losing 250-150 on Bocage Hardpoint but winning 6-1 on Tuscan Search and Destroy, 3-2 on Tuscan Control and 250-190 on Tuscan Hardpoint. Alec “Arcitys” Sanderson of the U.S. led Atlanta with 98 kills, and McArthur “Cellium” Jovel of the U.S. posted a plus-1.44 K/D ratio.
The Surge got the jump on OpTic with a 250-140 win on Tuscan Hardpoint. OpTic bounced back with a 6-2 victory on Bocage Search and Destroy, but Seattle won 3-2 on Tuscan Control and 250-220 on Berlin Hardpoint to clinch. Amer “Pred” Zulbeari of Australia led the winners with 95 kills, and teammate Daunte “Sib” Gray of the U.S. finished with a plus-1.18 K/D ratio.
In their first match of the day, the Surge won the first two maps against the Ultra, 250-238 on Tuscan Hardpoint and 6-3 on Bocage Search and Destroy. The Ultra responded with a 3-1 win on Berlin Control, but Seattle wrapped it up with a 250-205 victory on Berlin hardpoint. Pred again led the way with 99 kills and a plus-1.36 K/D ratio.
OpTic eliminated the Subliners in a 3-0 sweep: 250-237 on Tuscan Hardpoint, 6-2 on Tuscan Search and Destroy and 3-1 on Gavutu Control. Seth “Scump” Abner of the U.S. finished with 64 kills, and teammate Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal of Canada led with a plus-1.34 K/D ratio.
Sunday’s schedule:
(Grand final)
Los Angeles Thieves vs. Atlanta Faze
Call of Duty League Championship Weekend prize pool
1st place: $1.2 million
2nd place: $650,000
3rd place: $320,000 — Seattle Surge
4th place: $160,000 — OpTic Texas
5th-6th place: $80,000 — New York Subliners, Toronto Ultra
7th-8th place: $30,000 — London Royal Ravens, Boston Breach
–Field Level Media